Security of Candidates, MPs and Elections

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Lord Lemos

Thursday 12th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

Of course I agree with that. The Electoral Commission has noted that some of these problems are experienced to a greater extent by women but also by candidates from Black and minority ethnic communities. We do have to be especially vigilant but also consistent regarding all these types of incidents. We are very committed to this and take it very seriously, but I do not want to give false hope. This is something that we will have to continue to work on. My noble friend is right to draw our attention to that.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, and the work that she does on this commission. This is also a reminder of those MPs who have been murdered: Airey Neave, who was murdered on the Parliamentary Estate by the IRA, which also murdered Ian Gow; and, more recently, my friends David Amess and Jo Cox. As Jo Cox reminded us all, more unites us than puts us against each other. With that thought in mind, does the Minister agree that it is incumbent on us to disagree agreeably and not to descend into personal attacks and slurs?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I entirely agree. We have to continue to strive for a respectful discourse. I am all in favour of disagreement—it is one of my favourite pastimes; I think that is what got me here—but we have to conduct our business in a way that does respect not only to this House but to the whole political class. We cannot be responsible for a continued decline in the trust and the respect that the nation holds in us.

West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Lord Lemos

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. I will deal first with the issues surrounding the football match. Obviously, the police are operationally independent of government, and officials routinely engage with operational partners to support public safety and effective policing. The Home Office does not publish operational intelligence or risk assessments. To address my noble friend’s question, on 31 October the Home Secretary commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to review how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice—of course, that is what is being contested here—to local safety advisory groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. I know that the Policing Minister hopes for earlier feedback from HMI on the situation in the West Midlands and what happened in relation to the intelligence that was available from the Netherlands. But we hope the report from HMI will be ready by March, and I am sure the problems at Birmingham City Council will continue to receive much attention.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, further to the excellent Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Cryer, the chief constable of Greater Manchester does not need to wait for this report because he said that, as a matter of course, Israeli fans would be welcome to come and support their team in Greater Manchester, at Manchester United or Manchester City. Why is it that the chief constable of Greater Manchester can say that, yet the West Midlands Police has acted in this terrible situation? Given that the Prime Minister said it was the wrong decision, when did the Home Office know about this and what did it know?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I will deal first with the question about the timeline and then perhaps respond on the other matters, because it is important that the facts are in the public domain. The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit informed Home Office officials on 2 October that there was a significant risk of disorder involving Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and that one of the options under consideration was to ban Maccabi fans from attending the match. On 16 October, two weeks later, Birmingham City Council, on advice from the safety advisory group, announced its decision, and this was when the Government found out. On 17 October, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner asked the safety advisory group and West Midlands Police to convene a special safety advisory group meeting at the earliest opportunity. However, as I think everybody knows, on 20 October, Maccabi Tel Aviv announced its formal decision to reject any allocation for the Aston Villa fixture. The Government have expressed our disappointment. On the noble Lord’s initial question, of course we would have preferred it to go ahead, and the Prime Minister has made that clear.